Keanu Reeves

(Translated from Spanish by keanugirl76, translation edited by Anakin McFly)

In his latest movie “The Gift” – Sam Raimi’s new psychological thriller – the star did a lot of punching of Oscar winner Hillary Swank, who plays the role of his frightened wife.

by Amanda Lornie and Lucy Edkins

Reeves, who is famous for his roles as an action hero in successful movies such as "Speed" and "The Matrix", admits that playing the violent husband was a challenge, and that it was a bit distrurbing.

"Punching in the stomach was really hard. In the scenes with Hillary Swank, there were safety devices; when I pulled her hair, there was a small handle inside it. I could grasp it and act by making violent expressions.

"It was disturbing to play that role. I don’t practise physical violence, so that, to me, was very difficult."

But Reeves, who punched Cate Blanchett as well in the movie, says that he had to hit the “Elizabeth” star even more violently.

"When I approached Cate, I had to hit her; though I was pretending, it was really hard to punch her in the stomach.

"But we made it, and this is one of Cate’s great things: she told me, “Come on, let’s do it”, and this was wonderful."

The charming actor insists on the fact that both Blanchett and Swank were so happy to play those violent scenes that finally he too was able to play them very well. He says that, after a while, he began to realize that what he was doing was what some men really do: to use violence against women.

"I know that power poisons. The physical power that a man may sometimes use against a woman is really scary, but, after all, this is a movie and we are acting."

But as an actor, Reeves admits that, when he was required to, he was able to investigate the dark side of his role.

"It’s said that everybody has all their characters - all the features, everything – inside."

“The Gift” was filmed in and around Savannah (Georgia); Reeves went to the South a week before starting the shooting in order to absorb the environment and merge into his character.

The training consisted in putting on new clothes and spending time chatting with people working on cases of conjugal violence.

"I went to Savannah some weeks before to find Donnie Barksdale, my character.

"I talked to this companion that works on cases of conjugal abuse, because I wanted to investigate which are, from a clinical point of view, the things that you can find in conjugal - both masculine and feminine - abuses. To sum up, I went to this county, called “The Rankin”, where I found Donnie Barksdale."

Various members of the movie believed that there were really supernatural powers on the set, and Keanu’s co-star Blanchett, who played a psychologist, says that she has had to deal with premonitions since she played in this movie.

Reeves, who hadn’t ever been affected by any supernatural experience before, confesses that, after the filming of the movie, he has begun to believe deeply in the supernatural.

"The set was definitely charmed, but I didn’t have any exoteric experience there. I don’t know why, but I realize what the others are talking about.

"I believe in ghosts. I’ve never seen any, but I had some feelings about them and I’ve been in places where I felt something special. Rooms that become cold suddenly, feelings like, “Did I leave it here?”. You know, those sort of things.

But, even though he can’t see his future - a thing that would surely be a surprise to this movie star - he is preparing to go back to “The Matrix” with two sequels to that successful movie.

The filming, which will be done in Australia, is ready, while its female protagonist is recovering from a broken foot; but Reeves, who admits he got very surprised by the extraordinary success of the original one, promises “Matrix” fans that they will be very satisfied when the two sequels are released.

"I read the two new scripts of “The Matrix”, and, as far as my role is concerned, they are very exciting.

"There’re many questions and conflicts. It has great scenes and dialogues. Though we've already had an experience like this before, we don’t know what will happen this time.

"It’s a funny movie. There’s something fresh in it."

The success of the first "Matrix” had put Reeves under criticism again, with the media following every movement he did.

This private star who says he never talks about his private life with journalists, admits that sometimes it’s hard to read rumours in the tabloids, and he thinks that the best thing is to ignore them.

"This sort of situation emerges whenever a movie comes out, and stops when I don’t work."